Good housekeeping

Traditional architecture makes for better homes

Look within

And not ape the disaster management laws of other nations

Turn to nature

Mangroves and other vegetation can help resist tsunamis

Badly prepared

Disaster preparedness should be built into development programmes

A house for the islander

Illogical plans for post-tsunami housing on the Andaman and Nicobar Islands omen trouble

Land use can be changed

Polluted groundwater cannot

Home makers

Women of Latur exemplify how people alone can put an end to their misery

For a change

Nowhere!

Three months after Gujarat was flattened by an earthquake, the state government goes in for a relocation plan to satisfy the builder's lobby

Payback

Illegal construction around the Ranthambore National Park ought to go

Quaking, 1108 aftershocks later

The Indian plate is underthrusting the Eurasian plate by 4 to 5 centimetres a year. But our scientists move even slower. Are they waiting for the …

House made of thermocol

Safe as houses

Earthquakes don't kill; badly built houses do. A look into houses in India that have withstood several earthquakes

Mud housing is the key

Mud's low cost and malleability makes it an ideal building material. But its use can be popularised only if such drawbacks as its …

Stumbling blocks

The Gujarat earthquake struck at the very foundation of urban India. The disaster highlighted the haphazard manner in which the country's towns …

Building up a dangerous trend

Last October's earthquake destroyed 20 per cent of Uttarkashi's houses. When the rubble had settled, it was found that the older, traditional …

Republic quaked

Gujarat is paying a heavy price for a calamity that is by far the biggest government-made disaster since Independence. As the state crawls out …

Jharkhand tribals build their own government homes

Fighting for survival

Shrinking habitat due to deforestation has forced elephants to enter human territory in Orissa's Keonjhar district

Building dreams for homeless

Government promises land to the homeless in its draft Homestead Bill, but where’s the land?

Trouble in Dewas

Deforestation, corruption or politics? The killing of four tribals in Madhya Pradesh's Dewas district leaves many questions unanswered

Still life in waves

The visual media is into the business of producing images. Sometimes, just sometimes, they become iconic. For disasters there is a recognisable …

Real estate on water

Lakes were critical for Indian cities. They prevented floods and recharged groundwater. Today, these holes in the ground are either lucrative …

Making houses energy efficient

Our houses gobble up energy and spew out carbon dioxide. Shocking, but true. Buildings, primarily residential and commercial facilities, are …

Delhi's poll planks